National Hockey League

The league was founded in 1917 in Montreal, Quebec, and its predecessor organization is the National Hockey Association which was founded in 1909. It started with four teams and now composed of 30 teams, 24 of which are located in the United States and 6 in Canada. The NHL attracts many highly skilled players from all over the world. Nowadays the league has a larger number of players from about 20 different countries. Canadians constitut over half of the players because both the sport and the league originated from Canada. Many American and European players have increased in the past 25 years, because the NHL continue to expand into the United States.

Sillinger will retire from NHL

After playing in the NHL club for the past 17 seasons New York Islanders forward Mike Sillinger announces that he will retire from the club. He was Originally drafted in the first round of the 1989 NHL Entry Draft by the Detroit Red Wings, and played in 141 games for the Islanders the last three seasons.

In all, he skated for the Vancouver Canucks, Philadelphia Flyers, Tampa Bay Lightning, Florida Panthers, Ottawa Senators, Columbus Blue Jackets, Phoenix Coyotes, St. Louis Blues, Nashville Predators, and the Islanders.

Sergei Shirokov joins in Canucks

Vancouver Canucks President and General Manager Mike Gillis announced last week that the team has signed right wing Sergei Shirokov. He is a native of Moscow, being drafted by the Vancouver Canucks in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft.

Shirokov recorded 41 points in 56 games with the KHL in 2008. He has also appeared in two World Junior Championships as a member of Russian team in 2005 and 2006. Shirokov registered 13 points in 12 games over two seasons.

Shanahan is back to Devils

Yes,Shanahan is coming back to New Jersey Devils for his 22nd season.Then a new contract has been signed between this 40-year old player and the club. The whole team are delighted to have him back.

Shanahan had 6 goals and 8 assists in 34 games last season.He led the team to get 656 goals. He didn't join the Devils until January last season. It seems that fans can not waiting to put on their favourite Devils jerseys to support him.

Red Wings acquires forward Eaves

Detroit Red Wings made an announcement that the club has signed free agent forward Patrick Eaves to a one-year contract. It is reported that in 2005 Eaves was a final player for the Hobey Baker Memorial Award in college hockey and played three seasons with the Boston College Eagles.

Eaves has played in 242 career games with the Senators and Carolina Hurricanes. He scored 20 goals in 58 games in 2005-06. On February 11, 2008, Eaves joined in the Hurricanes in exchange for Cory Stillman and Mike Commodore. In 85 games with Carolina during the last two seasons, he earned 19 points for the team.

Scottie Upshall remains in Coyotes for another year

Phoenix Coyotes General Manager Don Maloney announced that the Coyotes have signed left wing Scottie Upshall for another contract which lasts for one year. Fans can continue to see him playing on the ice in his Coyotes jersey.

Upshall completed new career-highs in 15 goals, 34 points and 74 games played last season. Before being traded to the Coyotes on March 4, 2009 in exchange for Daniel Carcillo, he started the season with Philadelphia Flyers. In 19 games with Phoenix, Upshall scored 26 penalty minutes during that time. He also earned a silver medal when he represented Canada at the 2009 World Championship in Switzerland.

Rick Wilson was hired as Associate Coach by Tampa Bay Lightning

Executive Vice President and General Manager Brian Lawton announced Tampa Bay Lightning have agreed to sign a multi-year deal with Rick Wilson, nominating him associate coach.

Wilson has spent the past 16 seasons with Dallas Stars, winning the Stanley Cup in 1999. During that time Wilson helped lead the team to achieve two Western Conference championships and two President’s Trophies. Now fans are going to change their Stars jerseys to Lightning jerseys.

Edmonton Oilers continue to sign Grebeshkov

Grebeshkov built his career highs in 7 goals, 32 assists, 38 penalty minutes last season, and now he has become a member of Oilers."I’m very happy to be returning to the Oilers and the city of Edmonton. I’ve really enjoyed my time in Edmonton and I can’t wait to start next season." said Denis Grebeshkov.

This defenceman has played 176 career NHL games with New York Islanders, Los Angeles Kings and Edmonton Oilers, recording 63 points and 80 penalty minutes in all.

Carson and Rodney joins in Hurricanes

Carolina Hurricanes agreed to sign defensemen Brett Carson and Bryan Rodney to one-year contracts."Brett and Bryan both made tremendous strides last season," Hurricanes Assistant General Manager Jason Karmanos. "They will both have a chance to push for a spot on the Hurricanes roster this fall."

Carson finished his third professional season in 2008-09, and played in five games for the Hurricanes, making his NHL performance against the Washington Capitals on Dec. 7, 2008. In the AHL, he got 35 points in 69 games for the River Rats.

Dallas welcome Woywitka

Dallas Stars General Manager Joe Nieuwendyk announced that they have acquired defenseman Jeff Woywitka signed him a two-year contract which was worth $1.3 million. "We are pleased to welcome Jeff Woywitka to the Stars organization," said Nieuwendyk. "He's gained some solid experience the last few years with St. Louis and we feel he brings valuable depth and stability to our defensive corps."

Woywitka played in 65 games with the St. Louis Blues last season, scoring 3 goals,15 assists and 57 penalty minutes. He appeared in four Stanley Cup games with the Blues this spring. He has played in 152 career NHL games recording 35 points and 106 penalty minutes.

Rick Nash's 8 year deal with Blue Jackets

The team captain of Blue Jackets Rick Nash agreed to an eight-year contract extension with the club. Nash has recorded 40 goals and 79 points in 78 regular-season games and ranked seventh in the Western Conference. Columbus General Manager Scott Howson said that it is an important and exciting day for their franchise and fans.

Nash ranked first in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft and after that began his career with the Blue Jackets. In his second season he shared the Rocket Richard Trophy with Jarome Iginla of Flames and Ilya Kovalchuk of Atlanta.Totally Nash has 194 goals and 355 points in 441 games over six seasons with Columbus Blue Jackets.

Kessel is back

After defeating the New Jersey Devils, it is much more exiciting for the Bruins to get the news that Phil Kessel is returning to the team.Kessel feels pretty good and all right for getting back to the team for the first game.

The forward of the Bruins played almost 20 minutes and had two assists on the evening game. His return obviously has brought great results for the whole team. "Yeah, we felt great as a unit," Savard sail, "It’s almost like we were excited to see each other again and the three of us played well all night."

A new program for 'NHL Hour'

A new special program named NHL Hour With Commissioner Gary Bettman will broadcast on SIRIUS XM Radion.It is certain that NHL Senior Executive Vice President of Hockey Operations Colin Campbell and NHL Senior Vice President of Hockey Operations Mike Murphy will host this special edition.

This program will broadcast live on Thursdays from 4 pm to 5 pm on NHL Home Ice and NHL.com and it allows people downloading through podcast on NHL.com. It also surpports people to raise questions through phone or e-mail.

Next week Gary Bettman will return to New York to host with Bill Clement from the NHL.

Vanek returned to the game

On Feb.7 in Ottawa,Sabres' winger Vanek got hurt in the game after being hit on the face.Then he missed the last nine games because of his fractured jaw,and after that he said he was ready to return to the lineup to play against Montreal Canadiens.

Now Vanek is ranked eighth in the NHL with 32 goals in 54 games."It’s a big plus," Head Coach Lindy Ruff said. "But I think the question is how ready is he going to be? Can he answer the physical, can he answer the conditioning? We hope he can."Still Vanek believes that he is going to get better enough to play on the ice.